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Lovemore Kadzura in Rusape
A local private organisation, in partnership with a foreign investor, has secured 10 hectares of land on the shores of Rusape Dam to set up a tourism facility with potential to transform the face of Rusape town.

Izihlahla Ziyimpilo intends to construct a botanical garden at a cost of US$2,2 million with its German partners.
The botanical garden will have a five star hotel, wild animals, boating club, and fishing, among other exciting tourism packages.

The botanical garden will set the beautiful and impressive stage for the display of manyrare, indigenous and exotic plant species. Rusape Dam will provide a grand backdrop for the carefully curated garden surrounding the hotel, with open air pavilions, decks and gazebos straddling the fresh dam water that ripple and teem with aquatic life.

For decades, Rusape has been marketing the dam to potential investors, but with little success and the coming in of the botanical garden will bring life to the dam.

A representative of the investors Mr Never Bonde said they now had all the necessary paper work and construction will commence next month.

He said they have similar and successful ventures in Zambia and Kenya.
“We secured this land two years ago from Rusape town council and we have been sorting out our paper work and they are now all in place,” he said. “Construction work is going to start in July this year.

“We are going to set up a first of its kind botanical garden here in Zimbabwe. The garden will have a five star hotel, boating club, fishing and also some wild animals. We are in partnership with a Germany investor and the amount required for this project is US$2,2 million.

“The park will employ over 200 people when it’s fully functional. This project is not new to us as we have other similar ventures in Zambia and Kenya. Tourism is a big business, so Rusape must not be left behind, especially when they have such a magnificent dam and these scenic views.”